(USA TODAY) -- Former president George W. Bush is backing up President Obama when it comes to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

"I know he damaged the country and the Obama administration will deal with it," Bush told Erin Burnett of CNN.

Bush added: "I think he damaged the security of the country."

The former president noted that he put NSA surveillance programs in place, and "one of the certainties is civil liberties were guaranteed."

Bush also discussed his own legacy in the CNN interview:

"Ultimately, history will judge the decisions I made. I won't be around because it's going to take a while for the objective historians to show up. And so I'm pretty comfortable with it. I did what I did. I know the spirit in which I did it."